


Everything's Gonna Be Alright

by kuroowl



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boys In Love, Falling In Love, M/M, and tobio and shouyou are little babies in kindergarten, basically suga is a teacher and daichi is a bartender, being a moRON, being in love, daichi being forced into guardianhood, daichi figuring himself out, i love daichi, just fucking up and, sigh i just, someone help me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-17 17:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4674449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroowl/pseuds/kuroowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“DAICHI! STOP PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK ON MY BUS!” Ukai roars.</p><p>“I’m NOT PLAYING YOU OLD HAG-“</p><p>“What’s going on here?” Daichi’s breath gets caught up in his throat because Jesus Christ no voice should sound that good. He turns around and sees that he is wrong; there can be a voice that sounds that sexy.</p><p> </p><p>In which Daichi falls in love with his nephew's teacher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a mess over Daichi.

Daichi’s life is a source of constant embarrassment and regret. Take today for example: Daichi made the choice to tell Tobio where he was taking him. Tobio in turn responded with a horrified screech and a swift escape to the only room in the house he knew how to lock: the bathroom. Daichi takes that as a definite  _no way_. He doesn’t know what could possibly be wrong with kindergarten but he’s more proud of himself than confused. Six months with the kid and already Daichi knows his language. A giggle means:  _good job!_  A screech of torment means:  _not a good job!_

Daichi’s sure, though, that once Tobio starts going to kindergarten; it’s going to get a whole hell of a lot worse. His biggest fear is Tobio coming home one day and asking him about sex.

Daichi sighs and heads up the stairs to a closed door and heavy panting. He should have woken up earlier or done this night before. Now they would not only be late for school, but Daichi would be late for his interview. He  _couldn’t_  miss that interview. He knocks on the door.

“Hey, buddy,” Daichi leans his head against the door. Tobio doesn’t reply, but the breathing slows down. “I know it sucks, no one wants to go to school. But think about all the friends you’ll make.” Silence. Daichi swallows back a sigh and continues. “Think about all the things you’ll learn! Remember you were asking me about all the stars the other night, well now you’ll get to go and learn all about them.”

He doesn’t know if kids in kindergarten learned about the stars but it doesn't really matter.

The door creaks open and there is Tobio; his face isn’t splotchy or red, honestly, he looks fine. He doesn’t look like he’s watching volleyball or anything, but that’s a solid 11 on the Tobio Scale.

It hadn’t taken long for Daichi to realize that Tobio wasn’t a kid who displayed much on his face. Sure, he screams and hollers, sometimes he glares angrily at the wall, and his brow likes to furrow down whenever he’s concentrating on something that requires even the slightest attention, but he never really cries or gets upset. Tobio’s a quiet (kind of surly) child who likes simple things: milk after dinner, two blankets on his bed, pork curry with an egg on top, milk before breakfast, and volleyball. He had been like that before but Daichi usually thought he had just woken up from a nap (in reality, after his nap he looks even worse, like a good 4 on the Scale).

Not that Daichi worries. He’s fine with Tobio the way he is. (Sometimes he wonders where he got it from; Daichi’s sister had always been an emotional woman since they were children and his brother-in-law may have been a bit dull but he wasn’t ever grumpy.) There’s nothing wrong with looking a little grumpy as a child. In fact, it’s pretty cute. And anyways, Daichi doesn’t really want to know what Tobio looks like when he cries. He’s sure that if he ever does Daichi will end up taking Tobio to the hospital in a panic.

“What if no one likes me?” Tobio says softly. Daichi takes in the big dark eyes and thinks about his sister. How would she be doing this? Would she just let Tobio skip and try again the next day? Daichi remembers sitting with her right after Tobio had been born; Tobio was sleeping beside her and she was looking at him with such adoration it made Daichi smile.

“So you’re not scared?” He had asked. She gave him an older sister look of disdain. 

“Yeah right.” His sister snorted. “I’m going to be the best mom in the world. Tobio’s going to grow up happy.”

 _He will_ , Daichi thinks to his sister, wherever she is,  _I’ll make sure of it_.

“Why would someone not like you?” Daichi squats down. He read somewhere that children tend to open up more when you weren’t a towering beast above them.

“Dunno.” Tobio mutters looking down.

“You know what I think?” Tobio looks up expectant. Daichi had realized another thing when he had taken in Tobio: the kid was lonely. Even with the most loving parents a kid could have. It made Daichi’s chest tighten up, his brain hurt, and his stomach flop uncomfortably. No kid deserves to be lonely. “I think you might even find someone to play volleyball with you.”

Volleyball. The key word to Tobio’s happiness. He had discovered the sport one night when Daichi had been watching a match.

“What is THAT?” Tobio had said coming up way too close to the television and staring. His hand reached out and brushed the screen. The setter had just done a quick set to one of his spikers.

“Volleyball.” Daichi said moving slightly to see the screen. It was the  _goddamn_  match point. “Hey, kid, can you move?”

“I wanna play!” Tobio said turning to face Daichi with a stern face, his brow already inching slowly down, like a worm sliding down a tiny hill. Daichi heard, rather than saw, the point being made and sat back with a sigh.  

“You do?”

“Yeah!”

He had never seen Tobio so excited, so that was that. The next day Daichi had gone to the store and bought a small volleyball. He then proceeded to teach Tobio the basics who had gone from quiet and small to loud and big. It only happened during volleyball but it was enough to let Daichi know he wasn’t some fuckup destroying this kid’s life.

He had spent the first month taking care of Tobio thinking the 5 year old hated him because suddenly he was taking care of him not his parents. It had stressed Daichi so much that at one point he thought he had seen a grey hair in the mirror and ended up babbling to Yui that he was going to die for two hours. (She told him to get some balls, cut the strand off, and get over it.) But playing volleyball brought a side of Tobio that Daichi had never seen. He laughed, he smiled; he bounced on his heels and eagerly ran outside after the bouncing ball.

Five months later and Tobio can properly serve a ball to the wall and receive it in perfect formation. Daichi wishes he could send Tobio to play for the local team, but he’s still too young. And Daichi  _hates_  that Tobio has no one to play with his age.

He remembers hearing at some point, a long time ago, his sister saying that Tobio had been having trouble in daycare. Well, Daichi’s going to make sure Tobio makes friends, at least one, one to play with Tobio and give him company. Also, he couldn’t keep playing volleyball with Tobio for the rest of his life. He had taken Tobio to some of his own volleyball practices but men in their twenties couldn’t really play with a five year old without someone (the five year old) getting hurt. Not that Tobio didn’t love going to Tobio’s practices and games. 

“Really?” Tobio says now, his eyes widening with joy, his mouth inching up a mere millimeter because that was how far his muscles could go. “ _Really_?”

“Really.”

“Really?”

“Go get ready.” Daichi laughs.

Tobio goes and gets ready. Daichi has to admit, as he waits by the front door, Tobio is very capable of himself for a five year old. He could shower by himself, eat by himself. Those were basically all the skills needed to being an adult. And if Noya and Tanaka were technically adults, then Tobio definitely was an adult.  

Tobio comes downstairs carrying a volleyball and wearing his volleyball clothes: a t-shirt that says  _BALL IS LIFE!_  –given by Daichi’s  _wonderful_  friend Kuroo –shorts, and an unnecessary knee cap. (Daichi doesn’t know why he even got Tobio the knee cap in the first place. It was more for Tobio to feel like a professional player than for his knee.)

“I never said you could bring a volleyball.” Rule number one to being a parent: obtain a stern voice. Daichi’s lucky; he’s had one since high school. Noya and Tanaka helped too because Daichi spent most of his time in University yelling at them during practice. Tobio’s brow slopes down, but Daichi doesn’t waver. “No.”

Tobio drops the ball in a huff and follows Daichi out the door. As they walk down the block he checks his watch; they are currently about to miss the bus.

“The bus!” Tobio conveniently points out loudly as the bus, a whole fucking block down, begins to close its doors. Daichi curses and hauls Tobio into his arms –once again wishing he had enough money to afford a car –and sprints. The bus driver, Ukai Ikkei, must be in a good mood for once because not only does he notice them but he  _stops_  the bus, letting it move up a couple of feet before coming to a squeaky halt. The doors swing open as Daichi reaches and he stands there, bending only slightly because there is still a child in his arms, and pants heavily. He should really go running more often.  

“Come on boy! I don’t got all day!” Ukai rumbles. He is an old man, his former volleyball coach from Karasuno, and Tobio’s idol. Already, Tobio is scrambling out of Daichi’s arms and bowing excitedly before getting on the bus. Daichi has already told him a countless of times he doesn’t have to bow, but the moment he sees Ukai, all lessons go out the window.

Ukai had found out about Tobio’s love for volleyball when they had taken the bus to the park to practice. He had laughed and told Tobio about coaching Karasuno to nationals and how Daichi had been the captain of the team in his third year of high school. Tobio had nearly peed his pants in excitement and started asking Ukai all these questions about the sport and “Was Sawa the best one?” that had caused Ukai to raise both eyebrows in surprise. Daichi had merely rubbed his forehead for the oncoming headache. He had already endured most of these questions when he had revealed to Tobio that he played volleyball.

“YOU PLAY VOLLEYBALL?” Tobio had screamed before running up to him and clutching at the bottom of his shirt. “DID YOU GET GOLD MEDALS? WERE YOU THE ACE? COULD YOU JUMP SUPER DUPER HIGH?!”

(It blew his mind that a kid who could be so quiet could also be really fucking loud.) 

Tobio sits right across from Ukai’s seat and Daichi pushes him gently to the side and sits down. Tobio immediately glares at him and whispers,

“You took my spot!”

“You should have let me go first then.” Daichi whispers back. He checks his watch again; they are currently five minutes late to school. Great. He wants to tell Ukai to step on it because Tobio was going to be late and being late on the first day could never be good. It didn’t take much time for kids to band together in their groups and figure out who they liked and did not like.

“Where you guys going then?” Ukai says gruffly. No matter how much he denies it, Ukai has a soft spot for Tobio. Sometimes he comes over to Daichi’s and teaches Tobio little tricks like where to aim the ball to get Daichi on the ground moaning.

“S-school!” Tobio squeaks. Daichi rolls his eyes. Ukai, though, gives a chuckle,

“That’ll be fun, won’t it?”

“Ye-yeah.” Tobio whispers –was that uncertainty? Daichi frowns. He glances at Tobio; he seems to be at a 5 –which means passive and slightly dazed. Daichi’s relief only lasts for a few more minutes because when they reach the school Tobio goes from a 5 straight down to a 2 –the lowest on the Scale Daichi has seen Tobio so far.

His face scrunches up; the brow shoots down so sharply that for moment the lines on his forehead look like a downward arrow, every muscle clenches, and he starts to scream. Ukai, thankfully, has stopped the bus, so there is no abrupt brake when he whirls around, alarmed.

“What?” Ukai demands staring at Tobio before swinging his glare onto Daichi who is already getting up and apologizing to the people behind  _I am so sorry I didn’t know this would happen. No, no I’m fine_. “Daichi!”

“I don’t know!” Daichi runs his hands through his hair as Tobio continues to wail –at least, Daichi thinks, there are no tears. “What’s wrong? Tobio!”

“I-I don’t wanna go!” Tobio cries. He pushes himself against the window. “You can’t make me!”

“We-well, alright, Tobio, please stop crying-“

“I’m not crying!” Tobio cries louder.

“Ok, ok, I was wrong bu-“

“Make him stop Daichi.” Ukai warns. The people behind are starting to murmur. Great. Wonder- _fucking_ -ful. Daichi should have just taken Tobio by foot. Or not have told him where they were going until it was too late. Maybe he should have just let Tobio bring the volleyball.

“I’m trying.” Daichi snaps. He crouches down to Tobio’s height. “Look buddy, how about we just get off the bus and-“

“NO!”

“Come o-“Daichi grabs wildly at Tobio who then decides to become a worm and slides out of the seat. Suddenly, Tobio is on the ground, below the bus seats, and sliding down the bus to the back rows. A few adults actually squeal and scramble out of their seats to get of the crawling child’s limbs. “Dammit!”

He should have just let Tobio bring the volleyball.

“Come back here! We’re disturbing people!” Daichi stumbles down the bus, looking under for any signs of movement. “Tobio!”

“DAICHI! STOP PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK ON MY BUS!” Ukai roars.

“I’m NOT PLAYING YOU OLD HAG-“

“What’s going on here?” Daichi’s breath gets caught up in his throat because  _Jesus Christ_  no voice should sound that good. He turns around and sees that he is wrong; there  _can_  be a voice that sounds that sexy.

Daichi always thought of grey as the color of cement, the color of dull Sunday’s and lonely days at the beach. He never thought of it as a beautiful color. But now there is smooth skin, long eyelashes, a beauty mark placed precariously on a cheekbone –as if someone had taken a soft paintbrush and let the ink drip, hair like a storm. Daichi couldn’t take his eyes off that light smile, those peering teeth, the way a lock of hair had decided to fall right down onto his forehead. Grey was now the color of spring wind, foggy mornings and the warmth of blankets during a heavy winter.

(He is about to faint.)

“This kid doesn’t want to go school.” Ukai explains. He’s back in his chair, a grumpy look settled onto his face.

“My kid.” Daichi inputs. He wants those grey eyes on him, not Ukai. He looks at him and his lips turn upwards.

“How old is he?” The man asks.

“Five. He’s starting kindergarten today. He doesn’t want to go.” Daichi elaborates. He’s red, he knows he is because he’s also sweating and sometimes when he’s red he sweats right through his shirt.

“Ah.” He hums. It’s beautiful. Daichi’s fucked. “What’s his name?”

“To-tobio.” Daichi glances downward as if looking for the kid and totally not away from that guy’s gorgeous eyes and knowing smile.

“Tobio?” The man calls out; softly, as if calling out to a wild animal. Children  _are_  wild animals. “Tobio, I want you to listen carefully.” 

The bus is silent and Daichi can see the annoyance build up on the lines of a woman’s face, she is clutching a suitcase and glaring at her watch. He can see the leg of a man going up and down, up, down, stress lining his shoulders. Another old lady merely smiling at the events before her –she had picked a wonderful day to get groceries.

“Tobio,” The man continues. “My name is Sugawara Koushi, I’m going to be your teacher this year.”

Oh shit. Daichi is completely and utterly fucked. Even his  _name_  is beautiful.

“I really wouldn’t like for one of my students to not want to come to school, and that’s alright, you can come tomorrow, or the next day.” He could. Why hadn’t Daichi said that? “But, you need to get off the bus because the bus has places to be and your dad is worried too.” Daichi would like to emphasize that he is not a dad and is also single. “Could you please come out?”

There is a held breath of silence. The seconds roll forward, stumble, and shatter, and then there is a small arm coming out of the third to last row on the bus, a round face, wide eyes. Daichi lets out a huge breath and so does everyone else but Sugawara who just smiles that goddamn smile.

“Tobio.” Daichi shoots the boy a look that has him scrambling towards him in seconds. If only he had used that from the start. He examines Tobio’s face and deems him back to a 5. He turns towards Sugawara. “Thank you.”

“No problem. After all, he’s one of my students now.” Sugawara grins. Daichi clutches a little too tightly at Tobio’s hand.

He grabs Tobio’s light backpack from the seat and follows Sugawara off the bus. Ukai says something but Daichi is occupied in convincing himself that he’s  _not_  staring at Sugawara’s ass.  Obviously not.

The bus drives off and Sawamua and Sugawara look at each other for a moment.

“I’m so sorry for all the inconvenience.” Daichi can’t help but blurt out. Sugawara laughs and it’s like coming home from school in the summer, like the rush of winning a game and screaming your victory to the crowd, like jumping into a pool on a hot day with all your clothes on. Daichi’s pretty sure his knees are shaking.

“It’s nothing. Many kids find it hard to go to school in the beginning.” Sugawara says lightly. “And don’t worry, you’re not late. We keep a good twenty minute buffer for the first week because it takes a while to get all the kids inside and not on their parents. Come on.”

They follow Sugawara into the school. It’s a quaint building; Tobio was supposed to go here before the car accident and Daichi isn’t about to do anything differently than what his parents would have wanted.

The walls are painted brightly, covered in motivational posters, and big sentences like:  _BE KIND; NO MEANS NO; STAY IN YOUR BUBBLE._ Daichi could already tell that Tobio will do well here and not just because Sugawara was his teacher. (Daichi was definitely not staring at his legs, nope.)

Sugawara makes soft commentary for Tobio who has already forgotten about Daichi and is staring up at Sugawara in slight awe.  _Me too buddy,_  Daichi thinks ruefully,  _me too._

They hear the classroom before they reach it.

“I’m the only teacher,” Sugawara says apologetically. He opens the door. “I noticed the bus standing on the road for a while and figured it was a kid holding it up. I left them with the teacher next door.”

Turns out the teacher was little too preoccupied with his own class because Sugawara’s class is in chaos. Chairs are upside down, crayons are spilled, a large basket is on its side with blocks flowing out of it, papers fly around the room like tiny airplanes, and midgets run amuck screeching and laughing. Daichi notices one kid with paint on his face and another with a worm in his hand.

He doesn’t understand children.

“Suga-chan!” From the doorway stands a ruffled man with loose hair and a wide smirk; he leans against the doorway. “I’m so sorry, my kids were being a little extra annoying today and I couldn’t concentrate on both so I-“

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Sugawara waves his hand absentmindedly as he rips apart two girls trying to gauge each other’s eyes out. The man glances at Daichi who shifts uncomfortably. He can’t help but feel like the man is analyzing everything about him; from the way he’s standing to the way Tobio stands right next to him, trembling with fear at the sight of so many people his age.

“And  _who_  is this?”  

“Um…” Sugawara trails off and glances at Daichi. For a moment Daichi stares back, lost in those grey eyes. But then someone is clearing their throat and Daichi is back to cursing at himself and feeling like a complete idiot.  

“So-sorry. I’m Sawamura Daichi. And you?”

“Oikawa Tooru, at your service!”

Oikawa has this way of speaking: it’s like he knew the world was listening but he wanted it to be the universe. Daichi takes in the arched eyebrows, the carefully sculpted hair –so that it looked perfectly messy, the thin swoop of black lining on top of each eyelid, and the fit suit with a nice dark tie. He clearly makes well on his appearances. Daichi is sure he looked like a trashcan next to him with his tacky brown sweater and loose jeans.

Should he go home and dress better for his interview? Then again, he’s trying to become a bartender; it isn’t like there’s a uniform.

Oikawa leaves and Daichi goes back to casually Not staring at Sugawara.

“Trust me; he probably didn’t try very hard to watch my class.” Sugawara grins. Oh  _Jesus Christ_. Daichi let out a laugh and tried to keep himself from collapsing.

“Sawa?” Daichi looks down at Tobio who was still standing next to him. “Can we go home now?”

“Tobio.” Sugawara says before Daichi could even blink. “Could you give me one second?”

He claps loudly: once, twice, once. Some of the kids start to quiet down, finally noticing Sugawara, and he does it again: once, twice, once. More kids settle down and eventually the class is in a soft murmur.

“I know I only left for a few minutes but that doesn’t excuse this behavior.” Sugawara says brightly –except this time Daichi gets more chills than butterflies. He doesn’t know how but Sugawara was somehow scaring his students with a soft voice and beautiful smile. “I want to see this mess cleaned up.”

 The class get to work almost instantaneously.

“Wow.” Daichi whistles while Tobio giggles. “It’s only been ten minutes since school begun.”

Sugawara blushes (Daichi’s mind is starting to loosen into a flow of  _fuck, fuck, fuck)_. “It’s one of the courses we learn in university.”

“You must have aced that class.” Daichi teases.

“Who’s he? Suga-senpai?” A high pitched voice says and Daichi glanced down to see a mop of orange hair and flying limbs. Eyes staring at a startled Tobio. “Who is he? Wh-“

“Shouyou settle down,” Sugawara chuckles. “This is Tobio. He’s another one of your classmates.” 

“Really?” Shouyou’s eyes widen even more –if that’s even possible. “Wow! I’m Hinata Shouyou! I want to become the ace of the volleyball team and I-“

“Volleyball?” Tobio takes a nervous step towards him. “You like volleyball too?”

“Yup! And I’m going to be the best player! I’m going to be all WOOSH! and GWAH!”

“What?” Tobio frowns and glances at Daichi who shrugs.

“Wanna play? Do you wanna play? Let’s play!” Shouyou grabs Tobio’s hand and drags him away. Daichi hears Tobio arguing that they can’t possibly play volleyball without a volleyball and knows that he’ll be fine. He can feel a certain weight lift off his chest.

“Well, that’s good.” Sugawara smiles. “He’s already made a friend.”

“Yeah, that’s really good,” Daichi sighs. “I was worried he wouldn’t have anyone.”

“Well, I make sure none of my students are alone.” Sugawara assures him. “Kindergarten’s more about having children socialize than learn in my opinion.”

“I-I agree.” Daichi can’t figure out how everything Sugawara says just sounds right. He is about to go on and continue flirting with him until he was kicked out of the school, but then his eyes catch the clock.

Shit. He’s late. And not even fashionably late where he can stroll in and be like:  _there was traffic_  in a superior voice; no he’s so late that it looks like he completely forgot about the interview. The interview is gone. It's  _over_.

“Oh my god, I have to go.” Daichi says startling Sugawara.

“So soon?” Sugawara jokes.

“I-I’ll come back to pick up… Tobio.” Daichi doesn’t want to go. But he  _has_  to. He hates being an adult. If he was Tobio's age no one would expect him to work or be on time. He'd be able to confess his unrealistic sudden love for Sugawara without being judged and feeling like a moron. Things would be better. 

“Alright.” Sugawara is already crouching down to another kid with turnip looking hair holding a drawing of a stick figure. “See you then.”

  

* * *

 

Daichi shows up when the interview should have ended. All in all: a good effort. He huffs into the dark bar, empty save a lone man nearing his forties and a younger man washing his hands in the sink behind the counter.

The door dings behind him and the young man looks up. He’s a bit shorter than Daichi with buff arms and thick eyebrows. He looks calm and almost expectant when Daichi walks towards him.

“Daichi-san?” He says in a nice low voice. He places the rag towel on the counter.

“Sawamura is fine.” Daichi says embarrassed. He should have just gotten Asahi to take Tobio to school –except what kind of guardian/uncle/godfather does that to a kid with no parents? He wouldn’t be that person. He wouldn’t ignore and resent a kid for messing up with his daily life by just being a kid. But that didn’t stop the flush rising to his cheeks, the hesitant twitch of his fingers, and the nervous shiver that tickled his skin. “I’m sorry I’m late. My –I had to drop my nephew off at school. First day.”

That was another thing about Tobio: he didn’t know how to refer to him anymore. Before he was just an Uncle and cool Godfather; Tobio was his nephew and all was well. And then suddenly Tobio was moving in and Daichi was signing papers, buying Tobio’s milk, and taking him to daycare.

Daichi didn’t feel like an Uncle anymore.  _Uncle_  felt too loose a term to describe his relationship with Tobio nowadays.

Whenever Tobio calls Daichi “Dad” Daichi would flinch and sit Tobio down and explain to him that  _no, no I am not your father, you can't forget that._   How sad was it that a kid was confusing who his parents were. There were days when Daichi would bring out photo albums and show Tobio, show Tobio until it was stuck in his brain that he had a mother and a father who had loved him  _so_  much. And he was just an Uncle too young for this parenting thing, too confused to make the rules and choices for someone else, too scared of messing up.

(He doesn't want to mess up Tobio.)

“It’s fine.” The man shrugs. “We all have things to do.”

“I-“Daichi frowns. How did people even do interviews? His first few jobs had been given to him through friends of his parents. He had been living with Asahi –paying less than half the rent because Daichi couldn’t afford it with his meager wage from the local market Asahi was too kind for his own good and–until a few months ago, when his sister and brother-in-law had died.

(In their will they left their house and kid to Daichi. Daichi can’t help but wonder even now –six months later –if that was a good choice. He wonders what made them write down his name and not either of their parents or close friends. Daichi was twenty three; that wasn’t exactly the prime age for parenthood. )

But living in a house with a growing kid was much more expensive than the couch of Asahi’s small apartment. Daichi had tried taking more shifts at the market but those weren’t enough for bills and food and Tobio.  

“I’m sorry, I was told about the offer here by a friend,” Daichi says after a long moment of silence in which the buff armed man stares at him, expressionless, and Daichi stares back. “I never caught your name.”

Never caught your name is code for: I have no idea what your name is.

“Iwaizumi Hajime.” Iwaizumi says pleasantly, though his eyebrows haven’t moved an inch yet. He reminds Daichi of Tobio in a way. They have the same motionless quality about them.

“Nice to meet you.” Daichi returns. He decides to sit down; maybe that will start off this already terrible interview (brought upon by –what do you know: Sawamura Daichi). He shoots Iwaizumi a smile who quirks his lips up in response. It’s not the same effect of Sugawara’s smile: a nice punch in the gut, but it’s a kind one all the same.

“So, let’s get started,” Iwaizumi claps his hands. It’s a strong noise –could almost compete with Sugawara’s. (He needs to stop thinking about Sugawara.) “Do you like alcohol?”

“Yes?” Daichi says.

“Good. Do you know most of your general and basic drinks?”

“Yeah.” Daichi had spent most his time in University at the bar.

“Awesome. Can you talk to people without being creepy?”

“Yep.”

“Awesome, you can start today.”

“Wait,” Daichi stands up as Iwaizumi starts to walk away. “What?”

“Come on; I’m going to teach you the basics. If you want you can start tonight; I pay weekly, this bar isn’t that crowded on the weekdays so I think you’ll be fine for the next few days.”

“Wait!” Iwaizumi turns around and now the eyebrow –like a lone wolf –is inching upwards. “Wasn’t this interview a bit too quick? Don’t you need to do a checkup to see if I’ve killed someone? Don’t you need to test my skills at making drinks?”

“Buddy, if there isn’t a degree needed to bartend than I don’t need to test you. You learn; that’s how this job works.” Iwaizumi offers an easy grin. “And I need more employees so I can take a night off every so often.”

“I-thanks. Thank you.” Daichi feels breathless, like he just received a hard serve. It shouldn’t be this easy. He didn’t do anything except show up late and think about his nephew’s new teacher too much.

“It’s nothing.”

 

* * *

 

He picks Tobio up with alcohol burning his tongue and five shifts to fill for the week. He doesn’t know how he’s going to do this: take care of Tobio and work at the bar and work at the market (and see Sugawara) every day.

He hopes he'll do alright.

“Sawa!” Tobio yells as Daichi steps through the door. Tobio runs to him and Daichi hauls him up into a nice bear hug.

“How was your day kiddo?”

“Good.” Tobio nods gravely. “I made friends. I would like to be on the floor now.”

Daichi hears Sugawara’s (gorgeous) laugh and puts Tobio down who runs back to the kid with orange hair –Shouyou?

“And how was your day?” Daichi grins. Sugawara’s hair is a mess, his shirt untucked, his fingers splattered in dry paint. The sun casts a light through the window and Daichi can see bronze shimmer around a few strands of his hair.

“Amazing.” Sugawara comes closer. “And yours?”

“I got a job.” Daichi can’t help but put out. (Just to let Sugawara know he’s a grown man with a job and is able to take people out on dates if necessary...) “At a bar.”

“That’s good.” And it isn’t condescending like his parents were on the phone. Sugawara sounds proud of Daichi and it warms him down to his toes.

“Actually, about that,” Daichi says. “Most of my shifts are usually during Tobio’s day but at some point I may have to take some evening shifts. Is there some sort of afterschool thing here?”

“We do have one until six.” Sugawara can sense Daichi’s despair from his answer and continues hastily, “But I’m sure we can find someone to babysit before then. Tobio’s already very close with Shouyou, maybe I could talk to his mother about something?”

“It’s alright. You don’t have too.” Daichi says in shock. He can’t believe that Sugawara has only known him for maybe, at most, a half hour and he’s already doing so much for him. “I’m sure I’ll find someone. Please, don’t go out of your way.”

“I see all of these kids’ parents every day. It’d be nothing.”

“No, really,” Daichi says desperately. He can’t do this. He can’t keep accepting all this help. He needs to do something on his own for once. He doesn’t want Tobio growing up thinking his Uncle can’t even be a proper adult. This isn’t University anymore; Daichi can’t keep hauling in favors and cruising through life through other people’s hard effort. For God’s  _sake_  he got a house without even trying. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” Sugawara gives a slight frown, a tiny wrinkle forming between his eyebrows. Daichi would like nothing more than to wipe it off and make him laugh again. “Well, have a good evening then.”

“I will.” Daichi smiles apologetically.  _Please forgive me for being a dick._  “Tobio! Let’s go!”

As they leave Daichi can feel Sugawara’s gaze on his back. He can also hear a hushed whisper from Oikawa,

“I can’t believe someone said no to  _you_  Suga-chan!” 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of those chapters where I just threw shit together and it somehow worked.

 Daichi is scrubbing away at the empty bar counter when _they_ come in.

“DAICHI-SAN!” Tanaka roars. Daichi is reminded of the time he told Tobio that he could have two boxes of milk instead of one.

“Please-“Daichi starts but isn’t able to finish with the loud thumps of Tanaka and Noya slamming themselves down onto the chairs right in front of him. They like to _slam_ into things a lot. Tanaka and Noya have always been a bit too intense for Daichi sometimes. Tanaka with his big eyes and middle fingers; Noya with his loud voice and strong arms. Yet, they are both walls of support, two people that Daichi knows without a doubt he can count on. Except they're like walls that are pressed up right against your back, pushing and pushing until all you want to do is turn around and scream (which Daichi usually does).  “Go.” He finishes.

“Hey, no, we’re your customers!” Noya argues. Tanaka nods rapidly. His hair has grown out from their time together at university. The sides are still shaven to maintain that punk look Tanaka's always liked, but the top is an overflowing mass of tangled curls that drip onto his eyebrows and breeze against the nape of his neck. Daichi can understand why he had kept his hair close shaven, so he wonders why Tanaka has let it grow out now.

“Yeah. You can’t deny us alcohol anymore.”

“It’s one in the afternoon.” Daichi points out. “And technically yes, I can, if said people are idiots and will disturb the public.”

“Come on! Tanaka groans. “We’re still in school. We _need_ this. There isn’t any public here!”

“Like you guys stress enough about school to _need_ alcohol.” Daichi scoffs. He moves down the counter and continues cleaning. It’s been two weeks since he’s gotten the job and he likes to think that he’s a natural.

(Granted, he did, at one point, end up spilling vodka all over a few girls one night. Iwaizumi had told him, “I wish it had been those rowdy men back there.” and patted him on the back. The girls had glared at him from afar for an hour before leaving in grumbles.)

Tanaka and Noya began to chant, “VODKA! VODKA! VODKA!”

Thankfully, no one else is at the bar. Iwaizumi left Daichi in charge saying he had something to take care of. It was more of a praise than a punishment to leave Daichi in charge. He feels like he can keep this job. He can _be_ stable. He can raise Tobio and give him everything he wants without having to worry about money. (Without having to worry about whether or not he can do it.)

“Shut up.” Daichi warns. Noya calms down. Tanaka pants heavily against the counter.

“I didn’t know chanting could be such a workout.” Tanaka says, pressing his forehead against the palm of his hand. “I need to rehydrate myself.”

“WITH-“Noya suddenly shouts.

“Oh my god.” Daichi groans.

“VODKA!” They both scream.

“I can’t believe you guys are disturbing the peace of this bar.” Daichi says. He puts the rag away and begins to prepare his former teammates two, slightly diluted, shots of vodka. 

“I can’t believe you’re working at a bar.” Noya throws out. Daichi shoots him a glare and gives them their shots. Immediately they are throwing the drinks back, wincing slightly, and slamming the tiny cups back. Daichi doesn’t know if it’s pathetic or not that they can’t even handle diluted vodka without cringing.  

“That hits the spot!” Tanaka says grinning, wiping at his clean mouth. Daichi rolls his eyes.

What. Idiots.

“No but really,” Noya continues. “Why are you here of all places?”

“What do you mean?” Daichi asks. He takes their cups and begins washing them.

“Why bartending?”

“I needed a job Noya.” Daichi sighs. It isn’t like when Daichi was seven all he wanted to do was make people drunk and stupid. He wanted to be so much more than… this. “It’s as simple as that.”

“It’s not! You should be out there, fighting crime, saving people!” Noya says slamming a palm on the table. “That’s what you are Daichi. A guy who helps others.”

“The sentiment is nice, but,” Daichi runs a hand through his hair. (The toughest part about being a bartender is not drinking till the job is done.) “I don’t have time for that. There’s Tobio and-“

“We could watch him!” Tanaka says eagerly.

“No.” Daichi says firmly. “I’m not going to be that person. I’m not going to be so involved in myself that I forget about Tobio. He’s lost enough. He doesn’t need to be neglected.”

“But what about you?” Noya shakes his head. “How are you going to ever be happy if you don’t do anything for yourself?”

“Maybe later.” Daichi smiles because despite their annoying drama, his two kouhais aren’t too bad in the end. 

And so he gets home, kind of drunk –courtesy of Tanaka and Noya – and kind of sad –courtesy of his sister. It isn’t like he thinks about her a lot. Except he does. All the time. Taking care of your dead sister’s kid makes it hard to forget about your dead sister.

He remembers their trivial fights over who had to wash the dishes. Her arms around him when he lost a game and his shoulders -just- wouldn't stop shaking. Holding her hand the hour before she got married and making sure she didn’t cry and ruin her make up. Whispering to each other in their rooms when they parents fought. Laughing in the car to old music tapes they had found in the closet.

There was so much. And now she’s gone.

Daichi did see a little of her in Tobio. The way his brow and nose scrunched together when he was angry. His love for being wrapped up like a burrito on the cold nights. The way, sometimes, when he got so excited he would combine two words together, stumble and trip over the vowels like a newborn doe. How no matter what, it _had_ to be cold milk, even on the iciest days of the year.

He walks into a dark house and frowns. He had left Yui to babysit Tobio. Yui is the only person that can terrify Tobio in one moment and make him laugh loudly in the next. She was probably also the only person in the world that he could trust to watch his kid since Kuroo would kill him; Asahi would panic at the smallest thing and end up calling 911 (which has happened twice already), and Tanaka and Noya weren’t even an option because _God_ knows what they would do.

“Yui?” Daichi calls out. Does his breath smell like idiocy and alcohol? He hopes not. “Yuuuiii.”

Nothing. Maybe Yui is asleep.

“SAWA!” Someone whispers loudly. Daichi frowns. Was that his sister? Only two people in the world had ever called him that: his sister, and Tobio. Maybe it was her ghost. Maybe Daichi spent too much of his drunken nights thinking about his sister. 

“Tobo?” Daichi fumbles and switches on a light. Tobio is right before him, frowning heavily (although he always frowns heavily), his fingers are clutching at the bottom of his shirt. “Where’s Yui?”

“My name's _not_ Tobo!” Tobio whispers angrily. Daichi sighs heavily and a strand of Tobio’s hair flies backwards. He giggles. Oh no. “She’s in the bathroom. We’re watching a movie.”

“That’s cool.” Daichi says and follows Tobio’s angry huff into the living room. The television is on, currently showing a woman kissing a man. Daichi gasps loudly. “Tobo! You can’t watch this!”

“Why not?” Tobio glares and crosses his arms. Daichi grabs him and pushes Tobio’s face into his chest. “SAWA?”

“This is waaay too inappropriate.” Daichi slurs slightly, struggling with the moving child in his arms. An arm reaches out of nowhere and slaps him in the face. “Woooaaah. Wait. That hurt?”

“Sawamura?” Someone comes out of the bathroom. The light shines out and makes Daichi squint. It’s Yui. “Why are you trying to kill Tobio?”

“M’ not.” Daichi mumbles. The light is so bright…

“Are you drunk?” Yui gives him a nasty look. Daichi drops Tobio to the ground in shame.

“Tanaka and Noya came to the bar.”

“Why are they even allowed in those places? I'm gonna tell Saeko about this.” Yui grumbles. “Just go upstairs and sleep. I don’t need you corrupting Tobio with your bad decisions.”

“Those people are kissing. That's a lot of corruption!” Daichi says pointing at the screen. There’s no more kissing but it’s still important that she knows, for future reference. Tobio is panting angrily on the couch.

“I can watch kissing people!”

“Cool.” Yui says shortly. “Go upstairs and sleep. I’ll leave when I put Tobio to bed.”

Daichi wakes up the next morning with an almost -just about to fall over the cliff- hangover and a lot of regret. He was drunk enough last night that he had acted like a complete moron but not enough to forget what idiotic things he had done. Like telling Tanaka and Noya about Suga (it was _Suga_ now because Sugawara had told him he preferred the shortened name one day in class.) and moping about how beautiful he was. 

Yui is sleeping right next to him.

He’s known Yui since high school. They were both in the same class for two years and had done many joint practices during volleyball season for them to become close, fast. When they both became captains of the team, they somehow even got closer. Late nights turned into giving each other advice:

“Don’t tell him this.”

“She should be holding her arms this way.”

“I don’t care if he likes her! They aren’t dating!”

They both applied to the same university because why the hell not, they were both great and who told them they couldn’t. After pushing each other to get into the same school they both drove down together and spent the next few years studying for exams together in each other’s dorm rooms, getting drunk after games, and sleeping on the same bed after being worn down to the bone from heavy practices. 

So seeing her –drooling– next to him isn’t much of a shock.

“Sawa?” Daichi startles, shooting upwards into a sitting position, the blanket falling softly to his waist. He turns to see Tobio, (5 on the scale, which eases Daichi’s bones), a confused frown somehow slithering onto his face.

“Yeah?” Daichi whispers. Does he have work today? Sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of all the days. There are mornings when the light streaming in from the window takes more priority than everything else. Days where Daichi’s still a kid and all his worries revolve around boys, volleyball, and school.

“Are you and Yui-chan married?”

“Uh,” Daichi chokes slightly. “No.”

“Why not?” He could tell that Tobio was inching into  frustration and Daichi was sure that it is too early for that right now.

“How about we go downstairs so we can let Yui-chan sleep?” Daichi says. He’s noticed that when being thrust into sudden guardianship, asking rhetorical questions is the best way to tell a kid what to do. Questions are an adult’s best weapon. That's what his mother told him at least. Tobio nods and they head –quietly tip-toeing– downstairs.  

He gives Tobio a bowl of cereal and a large glass of milk. Tobio begins to chug it all down. For a moment, Daichi hopes that Tobio’s forgotten about Yui and him and that his distraction of milk actually worked for once, but then Tobio puts the glass down delicately and looks up with the expectation of a disappointed professor. And Daichi has faced _those_. 

“Why aren’t you guys married?”

“Um, well, we don’t love each other that way.” Daichi says.

“Why not?”

“Because… I don’t.” Daichi doesn’t know how to tell Tobio that he is so gay he’s not even on the spectrum anymore. He’s been gay since Yui’s friend first kissed him after winning a match and Daichi felt nothing but saliva on his lips. He’s been gay since he realized he stared a bit too long sometimes in the locker rooms.

“But why?” Tobio stresses.

“He likes men. I like women.” Yui says coming inside. Daichi looks at her in horror. Are they allowed to talk about sexuality to a child? Isn’t there some rule to wait until after they’ve learned about puberty? Then again, Daichi’s parents never even mentioned dating to him, let alone sex or sexuality. It was his sister who explained to him that being gay is alright.

_No, you don’t have to tell anybody. It’s no one’s business but yours._

“Oh.” Tobio goes back to eating his cereal. Daichi stares at him.

“What did you think was going to happen?” Yui whispers smugly as she reaches into his fridge to bring out a jug of orange juice. “He’s five. He can’t be homophobic.”

“I know _that_. “ Daichi splutters. “I just. I didn’t know it was that simple.”

“Course you didn’t.” Yui leans against the sink counter smirking.

“Whatever.” Daichi mumbles. The ding of his toaster lets him turn around so he doesn’t have to face Yui’s knowing eyes. It’s not _his_ fault. How is he supposed to know any of this? How does _Yui_ know any of this? All those long rants about how she was no way in hell having a child and ruining her body and bank account and now she’s a better parent than he is. This sucks. 

“So,” Yui says softer now, but still just as smug and _annoying_ as usual. “How’s Sugawara? Or can I say Suga- _kun_ now?”

“Shut up.” Daichi glares at her. He bites into his toast hard and swallows it down dry. He needs some milk. Or some new friends.

“I’m just saying!” Yui laughs, raising her hands. “It’s been two weeks. When are you going to ask him out?”

“I can’t do that!” Daichi says horrified. “He’s Tobio’s _teacher_.”

“So?”

“So, it’s inappropriate and people may get angry and think I’m doing it so Tobio gets special treatment or something.”

Yui frowns. “Well, you don’t have to make it a public relationship.”

“That doesn’t mean people won’t see.” Suga is so pretty that it would be odd if people _didn’t_ see.

Suga is the kind of beautiful that makes people stare and glance every so often out of the corner of their eyes. The kind that has people scrambling to sketch on a pad of paper or to write short phrases down: _grey waves, soft blankets shifting in the winter, the sound of spring curling up and out of the melting snow._

“Well, you should let him know, so he doesn’t start dating someone else. You’ll lose your chance.” The words hit him right in the stomach. He can’t imagine Suga dating someone else, holding their hand, smiling at them and moving that little mole of his upwards, brushing his lips against theirs, wrapping himself around them.

“Yeah, well, I think he knows. I practically melt whenever he smiles.” Daichi mutters. He doesn’t want to talk about this anymore; especially since he’ll be seeing Suga in about fifteen minutes.

“I’m just saying.” Yui says again. Tobio drops his dishes into the sink with a loud bang the conversation ends.

 

* * *

  

Surprisingly, Sugawara Koushi is the same age as Daichi. He finds that out when they were looking at each other’s licenses and laughing at their young faces and eager grins. It feels good to meet someone else his age taking care of children. It makes him feel less alone. Less overwhelmed. Although, Suga should be more overwhelmed since he’s taking care of twenty of them. Not to mention he is  _much_ better at it than Daichi. When Daichi enters the classroom to drop Tobio off he’s slapped with the shrieks of children and he once again wonders how Suga does it every day.

At least Tobio is quiet most of the time.

Tobio runs off almost immediately to find his –“Best,” Tobio told him seriously– friend Shouyou. Shouyou has already been over three times to practice volleyball. Tobio has been over at Shouyou’s house even more.

Shouyou is a bright and loud child who asks way too many questions, laughs way too loudly, and makes way too many sound effects to describe how he’s feeling. Daichi, though, adores him. He’s given Tobio what Daichi can’t give. Friendship; as cliché as that might sound. He’s a teammate. And someone, he hopes, Daichi will be seeing for a very long time.

“Daichi!” Suga smiles and Daichi grins back.

“It’s amazing really.” Daichi says. “I don’t know how you do it. Managing all these kids is beyond me.”

“They grow on you.” Suga says fondly. Daichi looks at Suga fondly. Thankfully, Suga does not see it. “Plus the noise starts to become background after a while.”

A smaller boy with rectangular framed glasses, blonde hair, and a bored expression comes up to them.

“Shouyou’s crying because I told him that no one would be able to see him if he tried to play in a volleyball game and then someone would hit him with a ball and he’d die.” The boy informs him in a matter-of-factly tone. Another boy runs up behind him panting.

“Tsukki!” The boy says breathlessly. Tsukki grunts noncommittally and waits. The boy turns to Suga. "Tobio is yelling at anyone who gets near Shouyou! He made this girl cry!"

Daichi groans. 

“Well,” Suga sighs. “That’s not nice Kei. Let's go give him an apology. And thank you Tadashi for telling me about Tobio, I'll make him stop.” He turns to Daichi. “Well, that’s my cue. I’ll se-“

“Wait!” Daichi bursts in, raising his arm slightly to stop Suga from moving. Suga raises an eyebrow. Tsukishima raises an eyebrow as well. “Would you like to, maybe, I mean, if you’re free…” Yui’s words echo in his head. _I’m just saying!_   “Would you like to come to the bar tonight? We’re having karaoke. I’m working.” Daichi grins nervously. “It’ll be fun.”

Suga opens his mouth but it isn’t him who answers.

“Ooh!” Daichi turns to see Oikawa grinning in the doorway. He really wishes there wasn’t a connecting door between the two classrooms. “Karaoke? My favorite! I’ll make sure Suga-chan and I are there!”

“Uh, thanks.” Daichi mumbles, glancing at Suga out of the corner of his eye.

“Thanks Tooru,” Suga rolls his eyes before turning back to Daichi and smiling. “He –sadly– took the words right out of my mouth. What time?”

Daichi stares for a moment before blurting out, “Seven.” And then as an afterthought. “PM.”

“I figured.” Suga laughs.

“Well, see you then.” Daichi raises a hand awkwardly before leaving. _See you then_ had become Daichi and Suga’s goodbye. Every morning and afternoon when Daichi would leave after picking or dropping Tobio off, one of them would say it.

It was a small sort of promise. They would see each other again. And Daichi would never get tired of saying it to Suga or hearing it from him. It was their _thing_ ; Daichi couldn’t believe they even had a _thing_. It made his stomach soar and his heart bounce. It made him feel like he was in high school again and falling in love with someone for the first time, except more real, stronger, none of the immaturity and innocence that young love was. And it had only been a few _weeks_. And he wasn’t even that _old_.

“Yes we will!” Oikawa calls out.

 

* * *

 

 The bar fills up for karaoke night. The glasses are being filled as quickly as they are being finished. Iwaizumi and Daichi are almost sweating behind the counter as they take in every order for shots of vodka, a little bit of whiskey mixed in with a lot of beer, orange juice mixed with bourbon, (Daichi is beginning to get used to the odd requests), three bottles of beer and four slices of limes.

It is at 8:30 that Suga and Oikawa finally show up. The rush has simmered down and now there is more focus on those who are singing rather than getting drunk. Iwaizumi is wiping down a couple of glasses near the sink. Daichi exchanges a grin with Suga.

“Hey.” Suga says. He has ditched the simple button down and tie for a more casual long sleeve shirt and jeans. Daichi tries not to stare because, it’s kind of pathetic, really, how infatuated he is with this boy who has no absolutely no idea about it.

“Hi.” Daichi says.

“ _Who_ is that?” Oikawa slams into his chair with enough force to rock it forward, his elbows crashing into an empty glass that slides off the counter and shatters. Iwaizumi looks up, unimpressed. Daichi curses under his breath and jerks his head towards Oikawa like: _not my fault._ Iwaizumi goes back to wiping his glass.

“What? What was that?” Oikawa demands. “What was that look? An interested one? Please tell me it was an interested one.”

“Nope.” Daichi grabs a broom. Suga shoots him an apologetic look. “It was a ‘what a complete idiot’ look.”

“Yeah, right.” Oikawa scoffs. He is staring at Iwaizumi now, his eyes sparkling under the dim light, his fingers tapping fast against the counter. “What’s his name?”

“Iwaizumi Hajime.” Daichi dumps the broken glass in the trash can. “And he’s not going to look twice at you, so you might as well give up right now.”

“In your dreams. Look at his arms.” Oikawa sighs dreamily. “I will never give up on a man with those arms for as long as I live. Can I send him a drink?”

“You want to send a bartender a drink.” Daichi says slowly. Suga is coughing into his sleeve, his eyes shining.

“Yes. What? Can you not drink on the job?” Oikawa frowns. “I’ll just send him something light. Something that will make everything warm and fuzzy. And then I’ll attack him with my good looks and even _better_ conversational skills. And we’ll get married in the spring with-“

“Please stop. I get enough headaches from Tobio.” Daichi rubs his head. Suga snorts.

“Oh, come on!” Oikawa pleads. “Send him one! I’ll pay for it, don’t worry!”

“Yeah, well, I won’t deny you the right to make a fool of yourself.” Daichi says. “What do you want to send him?”

“Hmm,” Oikawa scratches at the inside of his wrist. How many nervous ticks does this man have? “Well, what does he like?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Don’t you guys work together? Shouldn’t you know?” Oikawa raises an eyebrow. Daichi hates it when he does that.

“I mean,” Daichi’s ears burn red. “Yeah but, we don’t really talk about our preferences that much.” Daichi suddenly realizes that he doesn’t know Iwaizumi as well as he thought he did. Three weeks working together and Daichi didn’t bother to once ask Iwaizumi if he wanted to hang out, maybe have some drinks before cleaning up. They haven’t even exchanged numbers. Their conversations can mostly be summed up in brief exchanges like:

“Can you lock up today?”

“Hey, man, sorry I have to cancel, no one can watch Tobio tonight.”

“Do you have any extra wine glasses over there?”

Oikawa has a way of making you feel idiotic even though _he’s_ the most idiotic. The worst part is that when he does it, he's usually  _right_. And boy, does Daichi feel like an idiot for letting Oikawa point out how much of an idiot he is.

“Send him over a glass of Blood Orange and Bourbon.” Oikawa says decidedly. Suga is not even looking at them anymore and Daichi feels even lower than low. He feels like he did when he was practicing volleyball in the house and shattered his sister’s glass bottle of expensive rose perfume. “That’s my favorite drink. Also, put it in that cup!”

“Alright,” Daichi mutters. He takes the smaller glass shaped like a chalice; pours some blood orange juice, bourbon, and sparkling water; mixes it in with a mint leaf on top; and walks over to Iwaizumi. He looks up in slight surprise.

“What’s up?” Iwaizumi says.

“Blood Orange and Bourbon,” Daichi says drily. “from that guy over there.” He points to Oikawa who is grinning and waving. Suga is smiling too, muttering something softly to Oikawa who merely ignores him and continues to grin at Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi frowns and takes the drink.

“I’ve never had a drink sent over to me before.” He says. “I can’t say I’m not flattered. What’s his name?”

“Oikawa Tooru. He likes your arms.” Daichi says in spite of Oikawa’s dumb comment that had churned his stomach like thick butter and made him feel like a douche bag (even though he was).

“Well, uh, tell him thanks?” Iwaizumi glances back at Oikawa who is practically frozen in his wide smile. His eyes are small lines on his face. He takes a sip of his drink. His face scrunches up a little. “Shit. This is awful. Don’t tell him that.”

Daichi laughs. “I won’t. Hey, uh, afterwards, when we’re not so busy, do you want to exchange numbers maybe? I mean, since we work together and it’ll be easier and… yeah.”

Iwaizumi smiles. “Yeah, no problem.”

“So, what did he say?” Oikawa says eagerly, leaning forward to put his face right in Daichi’s. "What did he say?" 

“He says thanks.” Daichi says shortly while moving away from Oikawa.

“And?” Suga says dramatically. Daichi can’t help but smile at that, or maybe he’s just a sucker for Suga’s voice.

Oikawa glares at them both. “Look, buddies, pals of mine, friends without benefits, comrades, I need some seriousness right now. This is a matter of life or death. My potential love life rides on what he said! My _students_ depend on this.”

“Your students?” Daichi scoffs. “Why don’t you just go over and talk to him? He’s free right now; this is your best shot.”

“Yeah, don’t be a baby,” Suga says, reaching out and pushing Oikawa towards Iwaizumi who is sipping cautiously at his glass and staring out at the people in the bar. “Go on little doe, go on!”

“Shut up.” Oikawa snarls before walking towards Iwaizumi.

Suga and Daichi watch as Oikawa pastes a grin onto his face, leans his arms onto the counter, and begins talking, causing Iwaizumi to look up. Something is said between them and then Oikawa is taking Iwaizumi’s drink and chugging it down. Iwaizumi already looks a little bit exasperated and shoots an annoyed glance at Daichi before turning back to Oikawa.

“I think Oikawa’s going to get in his pants by the end of next week.” Suga says decidedly.

“Wanna bet?” Daichi grins. Suga looks at him suggestively.

“On what?”

Oh god. This is like the beginning of some porno, isn’t it?

“Winner gets to… get a massage from the loser.” Daichi says lamely. He’s more preoccupied with thoughts about porn and Suga. And porn _with_ Suga. 

“Oh my god.” Suga laughs.

“What?”

“That’s so dumb but I’ll take it.” Suga shakes his head.

“Do you want a drink?” Daichi says, slightly red in the face. “I am on duty.”

“Well duty-man,” Daichi snorts immaturely. “I’ll take a beer. Thanks.”

Daichi hands him an open beer. He feels like he should be doing something: washing some glasses, wiping the counters, making sure the karaoke is not a mess. But he can’t. Not with this heat or Friday giddiness, not with Suga sitting right in front of him, not with that single droplet strolling down his chin like it's a park and dropping neatly onto his collarbone like it was mocking him.

“So, let’s do another bet,” Suga says after a moment. “Something quicker.”

“Okay,” Daichi says slowly. “I bet that the next person to sing will be a man.”

“No!” Suga says so forcefully that it startles Daichi. “Something more interesting. Like, I bet that in the next five minutes Iwaizumi-kun will smack Oikawa on the head.”

“Alright, I bet in the next three minutes.” Daichi retaliates.

They both keep their eyes on their watches and within four minutes Iwaizumi is slamming his palm against the side of Oikawa’s face. Suga jumps from his seat yelling and pointing at Daichi,

“HA!”

Daichi slams his forehead into the bar counter and groans. “Dammit.”

“Okay, so, because you lost,” Suga smirks and Daichi is suddenly very afraid. “You have to go sing karaoke.”

“Oh no.” Daichi backs up, his eyes wide. “I _can’t_ sing.” He had learned that very clearly in high school when he and Yui had gone out with a two others on a date and he ended up singing so badly that his date had told him when he came back that it wasn’t going to work out. Yui had laughed so hard she snorted milk out and both of their dates ended up leaving earlier than usual.

In conclusion: Daichi doesn't want to sing. Horrific flashbacks aside, he knows Suga won't leave him for singing badly, but he also knows that Oikawa would never let him live it down. Or Suga for that matter. _And_ he needs Iwaizumi’s respect if he was going to work with him at this bar for however long. Basically, a lot of reasons as to why he couldn’t sing.

“You lost the bet.” Suga sings. Oikawa walks back to them rubbing his cheek and pouting.

“He hit me.” Oikawa says.

“Why?” Daichi asks hoping that maybe this will distract Suga enough. Suga shakes his head evilly and mimes singing into a mic behind Oikawa.

“I called him Iwa-chan.”

“How dumb are you?” Daichi groans. Suga is starts laughing hard, bending a little at the waist. “I thought you _liked_ him.”

“It’s a wonderful nickname!”

“Not really.” Suga points out.

“Shut up Suga- _chan_!” Oikawa sits down with a thump.

“You’re a child. How do you take care of children as a profession when you _are_ one?” Daichi says.

“It’s a matter of asserting yourself in the hierarchy.”

“He bribes the good kids.” Suga says. “With stickers.”

“Don’t give away my tactics!” Oikawa says. Daichi sees a glint of orange on his teeth but decides to stay quiet. "That is highly valuable information that you cannot give to the parents, the outsiders, the _enemies_." 

“Well, your enemies are paying us.” Suga says turning back to Daichi whose stomach flops like a bird trying to get out of a tangled knot of unrealistic love and hopeful expectations. “Anyways, back to you.”

“Back to him?” Oikawa says appalled. “ _I’m_ more important than him! Why back to him? Back to me!”

“Daichi has to sing.” Suga says. “He promised.”

“Oh?” Oikawa turns his evil eyes on Daichi who glares at both of them. 

“I’m not.”

“You have to.” Suga says in an ominous tone.

“Yes, you have to.” Oikawa repeats in the same voice.

“No.”

“Yes.”

"No!"

"Yes!"

They continue for twenty more seconds before Daichi says with a hefty sigh,

“Alright,  _fine_.”

“YEAH!” Oikawa starts to dance as Suga eagerly runs to the stage to request a song. Daichi tells Iwaizumi he’s going to take his five minute break now and heads to the stage.

“Good luck.” Suga hands him the mic with a huge grin. Okay then, Daichi thinks, maybe for Suga he can do it.

He ends up making Oikawa and Suga both laugh so hard they cry and Iwaizumi can’t look him in the eye for the rest of the night before bursting into laughter.

It’s... a good night.

 

* * *

 

Daichi comes home high on something entirely Suga and ready to sleep in. His mother has taken Tobio for the weekend and while he misses the kid he’s also ready for a brief visit of bachelorhood for the next two days. He has a shift Sunday morning but otherwise he’s free.

He comes home to Tanaka and Noya playing _his_ video games, eating _his_ chips, and wearing _his_ boxers.

“What the hell?” Daichi thunders. They both look up in horror and Tanaka drops salsa onto the couch.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) All this feedback has been WONDERFUL and all the comments made my day and week and life so thank you  
> 2) Since school has started my updates will be a bit slow but don't worry I will keep updating. I promise!  
> ^.^

**Author's Note:**

> http://kuurowl.tumblr.com/


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